JPH08195837A - Information fee charging system and information service terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a information service terminal capable of saving the trouble of collecting information fee and also setting the fee for each information. CONSTITUTION: In this KARAOKE terminal 10, every time KARAOKE music data are received, a central controller 31 provided in the KARAOKE terminal 10 mechanically reads price data P set for each KARAOKE music data and recorded at a specified position in the data and successively integrates the value. Thus, in the central controller 31, at the point of time when the entire reception of the KARAOKE music data is completed, the integration of the prices of the received data is completed and a charging processing is performed for the price by a charging communication network 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the distribution of information distributed by an installer of an information providing terminal configured to provide the user with information distributed from an information center that stores information. An information fee charging system for collecting fees,
The present invention relates to an information providing terminal suitable for configuring the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A communication karaoke system which has become widespread in recent years is configured so that a large number of music data are stored in advance in a communication karaoke terminal installed in a store or the like, and new music is distributed from a host computer through a telephone line. ing.

By the way, the fee for distributing this new song is
By a method such as a data distributor directly going to the store of the terminal installation company or having it transferred to a bank account,
Although data distributors collect from each terminal installation company, it is a great burden on the data distributor side to manage the individual terminal installation companies and collect charges for song data distribution in this way. Was there.

[0004]

Therefore, the applicant decided to consider the construction of an automatic billing system using a billing line network such as a videotex communication system and a dial queue two system which have been put into practical use in recent years. . As this videotex communication system, a captain system is well known in Japan. This videotex communication system connects a user terminal to an information center via a videotex communication network, and is an interactive image information communication that provides character / graphic information from the information center in response to a request from the user terminal. It has been put to practical use. Then, in order to collect the fee of the information provided from the information center, the above-mentioned videotex communication network has a charging function, and the fee can be collected in units of information. In addition, the dial queue to system connects the user terminal and the information center via the public line, and the information charge per unit time set for each information center is added to the public line usage charge and the charge is calculated by the metered amount. It is to collect. It is predicted that if such a billing communication network is used, billing can be automatically made at the same time as the distribution of song data, and the management burden on the data distributor side of the online karaoke system can be greatly reduced. It This is not limited to the online karaoke system, but in various pay information providing systems in the future multimedia society, such as game terminals that allow users to play games with game software distributed via communication lines. Are also common.

By the way, in the conventional communication karaoke system and the like, the usage fee for one song is set uniformly, so that the usage fee is determined only by the number of songs regardless of the content of the song. . Therefore, even if the delivered song data has a high load value such as a new song or a song of a special genre, or if a song with a high usage record and a profitable song is delivered, the number of songs is different. Without it the charges were the same.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an information fee billing system which does not cause trouble in fee collection and is capable of setting a fee for each individual information, and is suitable for constructing the system. It is also intended to provide an information providing terminal.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an information center for accumulating information and an information communication network from the information center, as set forth in claim 1. An information providing terminal adapted to execute an information providing service to a user based on the information delivered via the information providing terminal and the information providing terminal connected via a billing communication network and corresponding to the price of the information. And a billing center for billing the terminal by transmitting information including billing information to the information providing terminal, wherein the information communication network is different from the billing communication network. It is based on the consideration data stored in the consideration storage means for storing the consideration data indicating the consideration of the information set for each piece of information distributed through the information communication network, and the consideration data stored in the consideration storage means. It can, characterized in that a compensation calculating means for calculating a distributed information all of the consideration.

According to the information fee charging system of the present invention, when the information center delivers information to the information providing terminal, first, the information providing terminal and the billing center are connected. Here, in the existing captain system and the dial communication network such as dial queue two, the calling side (the side making the call) is charged, so the information providing terminal side calls the charging center to connect. It will be. However, as has already been put to practical use in public telephone lines, it is possible to change the configuration of the charging communication network so as to charge the called side (the side receiving the call) by the collect call method. Therefore, the connection here may be made by the terminal side or the charging center side as long as the information providing terminal side is charged.

When the information providing terminal and the billing center are connected in this manner, the billing center transmits information including billing information corresponding to the price of the distributed information to the information providing terminal. As a result, the charging of the information providing terminal via the charging communication network is executed.

The information requested by the information providing terminal is transmitted from the information center through the information communication network. This information may be the actual information that the information providing terminal can provide to the user as it is, but it may be a mere decryption key that enables the information held by the information providing terminal to be used. In any case, as a result of the transmission of this information, the information providing terminal can provide the information.

By the way, in the above configuration, the information communication network is a communication network different from the billing communication network. This is because it is assumed that the actual information transmitted to the information providing terminal has a considerably large amount of information, such as new song data for karaoke performance or game software. In addition, promptness is also required. On the other hand, regarding billing information, it seems that there are few cases where the amount of information is large,
Even if the communication speed is a little low, it does not seem to matter. In this way, the required conditions differ between the real information and the billing information. Therefore, by using a communication network suitable for distributing each of them, it is quicker than distributing the real information by using the billing communication network. In terms of availability and high reliability of data, it is possible to configure an optimal system according to the type of information that the information providing terminal should receive.

When the information communication network and the billing communication network are different from each other, the information transmitted from the billing center to the information providing terminal is provided with billing information for operating the billing function of the billing communication network. If so, the actual contents may be anything, and mere dummy data having no special meaning is sufficient. Further, making the information communication network and the charging communication network different is not equivalent to installing the information center and the charging center separately. That is, in the information fee charging system of the present invention, the information center and the charging center are conceptually expressed as different things, but they may exist as separate independent centers, or both functions may be provided in one center. You may make it hold. In any case, the above advantages can be obtained by using different communication networks suitable for the real information and the billing information.

In performing such information distribution and billing, in particular, in the information fee billing system of the present invention, consideration data indicating the consideration of each piece of information is stored in the consideration storage means, and based on the consideration data, the consideration is paid. The calculation means calculates the price of all the distributed information. The individual information referred to here is information serving as a unit of distribution, and is not limited to the case where a single piece of information is used as a unit of distribution. It is assumed that one consideration will be set. By calculating the price in this way, it becomes possible to set different prices according to the contents of individual information, and to set a higher price for the latest information or special information, or when the frequency of use is already high. The price of profitable information can be set to a low value, and the billing communication network can automatically bill with the price system thus set.

By the way, various concrete configurations of the consideration storage means and the consideration calculation means are conceivable. For example, as described in claim 2, the consideration data is information distributed via the information communication network. As a part of the above, it is preferable that the price calculation means adds and stores the price by referring to the price data in the distributed information, which is stored in addition to the actual data in the information.

Alternatively, as described in claim 3, the consideration data is stored in a table in association with each piece of information, and the consideration calculation means refers to the consideration data in the table to accumulate the consideration. It may be one that does.

In the case of the information fee charging system according to claim 2, since the consideration data is added to the actual data as information, the consideration calculation means provided on the information center side allows
At least one of the following two configurations is adopted: one is to add up each time each piece of information is transmitted, or one is to add up each time each piece of information is received by the price calculation means provided on the information providing terminal side. In any case, the charge accumulated by the information center or the information providing terminal is notified to the billing center, and the billing information is transmitted from the billing center to the information providing terminal, whereby the billing is performed by the function of the billing communication network. To be done.

With such a configuration, if the value data is read according to a specific format of the information to be distributed, the value can be integrated without identifying the individual information by the information number or ID. It can be expected that the integration process will be simplified. Further, even when information that can be newly provided at the information center is added, since the information and the consideration data are added at once, data inconsistency such as an incorrect correspondence between the two cannot occur.

On the other hand, in the case of the information fee charging system according to claim 3, the consideration data is stored in the table in association with each piece of information. This table may be located in either the information center, the billing center, or the information providing terminal. However, since consideration data needs to be added or updated, if the table is stored in the information providing terminal, if information addition or updating is required, the information center or billing center side connects to the information providing terminal. , It is necessary to instruct the information providing terminal to add or update data. Further, when the consideration storage means and the consideration calculation means are separately arranged, it becomes necessary to transmit the consideration data table so that the consideration calculation means can refer to the consideration data table. Further, when the information center or the information providing terminal is configured to accumulate the consideration, the consideration is notified to the charging center. Finally, the billing center transmits billing information to the information providing terminal, and billing is performed by the function of the billing communication network.

In the case of such a configuration, since the consideration data of the distributable information can be collectively managed, it is easy to update the entire consideration data. In addition, in the case of calculating the price prior to the distribution of information, it is expected that the integration process can be speeded up because the integration process can be performed only by searching the table.

In the information fee charging system, the information center or the charging center includes a list distribution means for distributing a list of information that can be distributed to the information providing terminal to the information providing terminal. And convenient.

According to such an information fee charging system, since the list distribution means distributes the list of information that can be distributed to the information providing terminal to the information providing terminal, the information providing terminal can receive the information. You can easily find the latest list of. Here, it is more preferable that the list includes not only the data indicating the title and the content of the information that can be provided, but also the respective consideration data so that the list can be used as the above-mentioned consideration data table.
In the case where the table-formatted list including the consideration data is transmitted in this manner, the consideration calculation means may be arranged in the information providing terminal.

Further, in such an information fee charging system, the information providing terminal may include list requesting means for requesting the list delivering means to deliver the list. According to the information fee charging system configured in this way, the list of information that can be delivered to the information providing terminal can be delivered only when the information providing terminal needs it. Therefore, for example, the list is delivered regularly even when it is not necessary. There is nothing to do.

As an information providing terminal suitable for constructing the information fee providing system of the present invention described above, for example, as described in claim 6, an information communication network connected to an information center via an information communication network. An information providing terminal comprising: connecting means, information storing means for storing information distributed from the information center, and charging communication network connecting means for connecting to the charging center via a charging communication network. The information communication network is a communication network different from a billing communication network, and based on consideration data indicating the consideration of the information set for each piece of information delivered from the information center, all the delivered information It is possible to employ an information providing terminal characterized by including a consideration calculation means for calculating a consideration.

Further, in this information providing terminal, as described in claim 7, the consideration calculation means is added to the actual data in the information as a part of the information distributed through the information communication network. It is preferable to refer to the consideration data and accumulate the consideration.

Alternatively, as described in claim 8, the consideration calculation means may refer to the consideration data stored in the table in association with each piece of information to accumulate the consideration. Further, as described in claim 9, distribution of a list of information that can be distributed from the information center,
More preferably, a list requesting means for making a request to the information center or the billing center is provided.

The operation and effect of each component of these information providing terminals are similar to those described for the information fee charging system described above, and are suitable for constructing the information fee charging system of the present invention. Further, in particular, by arranging the consideration calculation means on the information providing terminal side, even if a large number of information providing terminals are installed, the information center and the billing center are not burdened with the calculation of the consideration, and accordingly each information The service to the providing terminal can be executed quickly.

[0027]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment is an example in which the information fee charging system of the present invention is applied to a communication karaoke system. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication karaoke system of the present invention receives the distribution of karaoke song data from the information center 3 that stores the karaoke song data and the information center 3 via the information communication network 7, and A karaoke terminal 10 configured to perform a karaoke performance based on the data,
By connecting to the karaoke terminal 10 via the charging communication network 5 and transmitting the charging information to the karaoke terminal 10,
Charging center 1 for charging the karaoke terminal 10
It has and. A plurality of karaoke terminals 10 are connected to the billing center 1 via a billing communication network 5, and a plurality of karaoke terminals 10 are also connected to the information center 3 via the information communication network 7. It is connected. Further, the charging center 1 and the information center 3 are also connected.

Of the above-mentioned configurations, first, the configuration of the karaoke terminal 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the karaoke terminal 10 is a first communication control device 27 as an information communication network connecting means for connecting to the information center 3 via the information communication network 7.
And a hard disk 33 as information storage means for storing the karaoke piece data distributed from the information center 3.
And a second communication control unit 28 as a billing communication network connecting means for connecting to the billing center 1 via the billing communication network 5, which are constituted by a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM and the like. Is controlled by.
Further, the central control unit 31 functions as a list requesting unit in this embodiment, and executes a process of requesting the charging center 1 to distribute a music list.

Further, the karaoke terminal 10 reproduces the accompaniment music based on the karaoke piece data, and the voice reproducing circuit 35.
And the accompaniment music from the audio reproduction circuit 35 and the audio input from the microphone 43 are mixed to produce the speaker 41.
And a mixer amplifier 38 for outputting to, which enables karaoke performance.

Next, the function of the karaoke terminal 10 will be outlined. In the karaoke terminal 10, the karaoke piece data of about several thousand pieces can be stored in the hard disk 33, and normally, the karaoke performance processing can be performed based on the stored karaoke piece data. When a new song needs to be added, the karaoke song data can be received from the information center 3 and stored in the hard disk 33. Incidentally, the karaoke piece data for one piece is composed of piece number information, which is identification information for identifying pieces of music, and substance information. The entity information in this is the MID that is the information of the accompaniment music.
It is composed of performance information of the I (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) standard, lyrics information and background image information.
The background video information is encoded video information corresponding to each song.

When performing a karaoke performance on the karaoke terminal 10, the user operates the operation panel 45 as an input means or a remote controller to select a desired song. Then, the central control unit 31 executes a karaoke performance process according to a predetermined karaoke performance program. Briefly, the central control unit 31 reads out the performance information, lyrics information and background image information corresponding to the selected song from the hard disk 33, and the performance information is reproduced by the audio reproduction circuit 3.
5, the lyrics information and the background image information are transferred to the screen display control device 26, respectively. The performance information output to the audio reproduction circuit 35 is converted into an analog performance signal and then sent to the mixer amplifier 38 to be electrically amplified and
The singing voice of the user input through the microphone 43 is mixed at an appropriate ratio. The mixed audio signal is output to the outside as a performance sound by the speaker 41. On the other hand, the lyrics information that is output in synchronization with the performance information is
In the screen display control device 26, it is combined (superimposed) with the background video signal and displayed on the television monitor 29. As a result, the lyrics telop is displayed on the TV monitor 29 in a state where the lyrics telop is combined with the background image.

Next, the structure and function of the information center 3 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the information center 3 stores a communication control device 77 as an information communication network connecting means for connecting to the karaoke terminal 10 via the information communication network 7, and information for accumulating karaoke piece data to be distributed to the karaoke terminal 10. A storage device 73 as storage means is provided, and these are controlled by the host computer 71. Further, the host computer 71 includes an input device 75, a printer 79, C
Various devices such as RT81 are connected. In addition to the karaoke piece data, the storage device 73 also stores various control programs for operating the host computer 71.

The information center 3 thus constructed transmits the karaoke piece data designated by the billing center 1 to the karaoke terminal 10 designated by the billing center 1 via the information communication network 7. Operate. That is, in this embodiment, the information center 3 is configured to deliver the karaoke piece data to the specific karaoke terminal 10 based on only the instruction received from the billing center 1.

Next, the structure and function of the charging center 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the charging center 1 includes a communication control device 57 connected to the karaoke terminal 10 via the charging communication network 5, and is controlled by the host computer 51. Further, the host computer 51 has a storage device 53 for storing various control programs for operating the host computer 51, billing information for each of the karaoke terminals 10 and the like, an input device 55, a printer 59, and a CRT 61. Various devices such as are connected. Further, the communication control device 57 is connected to the communication control device 77 of the information center 3 to enable mutual information communication.

The billing center 1 thus configured receives requests from the karaoke terminal 10, distributes the song list, performs processing for billing the karaoke terminal 10, and instructs the information center 3 to transmit karaoke song data. To do. In order to distribute the song list, information is collected from the information center 3 as necessary, and the billing center 1
The song list data as exemplified in (1) is created and transmitted to the karaoke terminal 10. The processing as the list distribution means is executed by the host computer 51. This song list data includes consideration data P (unit price P) set for each piece of karaoke song data. That is, in the present embodiment, the consideration data P is the charging center 1
It is stored in the storage device 53 as a price storage means included in, and is managed as a table by the host computer 51.

[0036]

[Table 1]

In the karaoke terminal 10 to which the above-mentioned music list data is distributed, the central control unit 31 refers to the music list data according to the processing described later and refers to the total amount T1 of the consideration for the music requested to be distributed. calculate. That is, in the present embodiment, the central control device 31 provided in each karaoke terminal 10 corresponds to the consideration calculation means. Table 1 above
Speaking of the specific example shown in FIG. 2, 2 of song A and song B in Table 1 above.
When the distribution of the music is requested, the central control unit 31 adds the consideration P of the music A and the music B to calculate the total amount of money as 2000 yen.

By notifying the charging center 1 of the amount of money calculated in this way as a charging condition, the charging center 1 charges the karaoke terminal 10 with the amount of money. In the process for charging the karaoke terminal 10, information for charging is transmitted to the karaoke terminal 10 via the charging communication network 5. The information for this charging is pay information in which an amount corresponding to the charge of the karaoke piece data transmitted thereafter via the information communication network 7 is set, and this pay information is transmitted via the charging communication network 5. Then, the charging function of the charging communication network 5 charges a predetermined amount to the karaoke terminal 10 which is the transmission destination. The amount of money set in the charging information transmitted by the charging center 1 is determined by the charging condition calculated by the karaoke terminal 10 and notified to the charging center 1.

In the karaoke music data transmission instruction to the information center 3, the music code transmitted from the karaoke terminal 10 to the charging center 1 and the karaoke terminal 10 are specified on condition that the processing for charging is completed. The terminal code is transmitted to the information center 3.

Incidentally, as the charging communication network 5 having the charging function as described above, a videotex communication network called a captain system and a dial queue to communication network are known as typical ones in Japan at present. In this embodiment, the videotex communication network is assumed. The billing communication network 5 determines the type of data distributed by the karaoke terminal 10 from the billing center 1 when data is exchanged via this communication network from the standpoint of being located in the middle of the data exchange. The charge list that is obtained and registered in advance according to the type of data is calculated, and the amount of money to be charged for the transmission of the data is calculated. The above charge list is a table showing the relationship between data types and charges. The fee charged in the fee-charging communication network 5 is collected on behalf of the telephone operator in addition to the telephone fee for the karaoke terminal 10, and the fee is deducted before being passed to the data distributor.

Next, processing relating to distribution and billing of karaoke piece data will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Although this flowchart is based on the operation of the karaoke terminal 10, the operations of the information center 3 and the billing center 1 will be described in parallel as needed.

First, this processing is started by a predetermined operation on the karaoke terminal 10 side, and the karaoke terminal 10 connects to the billing center 1 through the billing communication network 5 to display its own terminal code CID and song list data. Data indicating the request is transmitted (S110). In response to this, the charging center 1 identifies the karaoke terminal 10 by the received terminal code CID. Then, the music list data is created based on the music data accumulated in the information center 3, and the music list data is transmitted to the karaoke terminal 10. It is more preferable that the song list data is created by, for example, arranging song names in the order of Japanese syllabary, or by dividing by song genre or fee, since later selection becomes easy.

Next, the karaoke terminal 10 displays the titles of the songs that can be delivered on the attached display, based on the transmitted song list data (S12).
0). At this time, the unit price of the song is displayed on the display at the same time as the song name. Then, the process waits until the operator (terminal installer) selects the music number (S130).
When the desired song number is selected by the operator, the total price T1 of the selected song is calculated with reference to the price data of the songs included in the song list data and transmitted (S140), and the total amount T1 is calculated. It is displayed on the display (S150).

Next, in order to confirm whether or not to receive the distribution, the process waits until the operator inputs an instruction of "transmission required" or "transmission not required" (S160). here,
If "transmission is not required" is instructed, it is confirmed whether or not the process is to be ended, and if it is an instruction to end, this process is ended (S1).
65: YES), and if not completed, S130 again.
Return to. On the other hand, if the "send required" is instructed, the selected song code N is transmitted to the billing center 1 as request information, and the total amount T1 is transmitted to the billing center 1 as a billing condition (S170).

The billing center 1 receives the request information and billing conditions, and first sends billing information corresponding to the amount to be billed to the karaoke terminal 10 via the billing communication network 5. Here, the billing information may have any content as long as the required billing is made by transmission, and it is sufficient that it is merely dummy data having no meaning. That is, the charging information is not necessarily required for the karaoke terminal 10 but is data for operating the charging function of the charging communication network 5. More specifically, in this embodiment, by transmitting the charging information, the charging of the karaoke terminal 10 on the videotex communication system is executed, and at a later date, the charging will be deducted from the bank account of the terminal installer together with the telephone charge. The record of the billing process is recorded in the billing center 1 and also in the telephone company that manages the billing communication network 5. It should be noted that, based on the record of the billing process recorded, the telephone company will pass the remainder after deducting the commission from the data charge collected on behalf of the terminal installer to the data distributor who is the installer of the billing center 1. . Furthermore,
The charging center 1 transmits the terminal code CID and the music code N to the information center 3 on condition that the charging process is completed. In response to this, the information center 3 receives the terminal code CI
The karaoke terminal 10 specified by D is requested to connect.

Now, the karaoke terminal 10 waits for a connection request from the information center 3, connects to the information center 3, and receives the karaoke piece data transmitted from the information center 3 (S180). Here, the song code N transmitted from the billing center 1 to the information center 3 is the song code N transmitted from the karaoke terminal 10 to the billing center 1 in the previous process, and the karaoke song data of the song selected by the karaoke terminal 10. Will be delivered. And karaoke terminal 1
0 shows the distributed karaoke song data on the hard disk 3
It records and saves in 3 (S190).

The operation of the karaoke terminal 10, the charging center 1, and the information center 3 described above is shown in FIG. 5 as a communication sequence diagram. First, karaoke terminal 1
0 makes a call to the billing center 1 via the billing communication network 5, and transmits a password after connection is established.

The billing center 1 receives this password, verifies the password, and if the terminal is registered as one in the communication karaoke system of the present invention, transmits a signal indicating the password OK. The karaoke terminal 10 receives the password OK signal and requests song list data.

The billing center 1 accepts this song list data request, searches for karaoke song data that can be distributed to the karaoke terminal, creates song list data, and sends it to the karaoke terminal 10. The karaoke terminal 10 performs a process of selecting a song based on the sent song list data, and when receiving the distribution of the karaoke song data, sends a signal indicating request information and a billing condition to the billing center 1. Send.

The billing center 1 sends data for billing a charge corresponding to the purchase price to the karaoke terminal 10 according to the sent billing conditions. In response to this, the karaoke terminal 10 cuts off the connection with the charging center 1. When the above process is completed, the billing center 1 calls and connects to the information center 3 and transmits request information from the karaoke terminal 10. The information center 3 receives this request information and returns a reception completion message. In response to this, the billing center 1 cuts off the connection with the information center 3.

When the above processing is completed, the information center 3 then calls and connects to the karaoke terminal 10, and the billing center 1
The karaoke piece data specified by the request information transmitted via the. The karaoke terminal 10 receives the karaoke piece data and replies that the reception is completed. Upon completion of this reception, the information center 3 cuts off the connection with the karaoke terminal 10.

In this way, "Karaoke terminal 10" → "Billing center 1" → "Information center 3" → "Karaoke terminal 10"
The communication is handed over in that order, and paid distribution of karaoke song data is executed. As described above, according to the communication karaoke system to which the information fee charging system of the present invention is applied, the reception processing is automatically performed in response to the distribution request of the karaoke piece data from the terminal installation company,
For the collection of charges associated with the distribution, a substitute service by the telephone company can be used. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the burden on the data distributor for collecting charges.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the price data indicating the price set for each piece of karaoke music data is stored on the charging center 1 side as the music list data tabulated corresponding to the karaoke music data. Further, the karaoke terminal 10 side receiving the distribution of the song list data is configured to calculate the price of all the distributed karaoke music data based on the price data. Therefore, for example, you can set a higher price for a new song or a song of a special genre, or set a lower price for a song that is already profitable because it is used frequently. The communication network 5 allows automatic billing.

Further, in this embodiment, the charging center 1
However, since the song list data, which is a list of songs that can be delivered to the karaoke terminal 10, is delivered to the karaoke terminal 10, the karaoke terminal 10 easily knows the latest list of karaoke song data that can be delivered. be able to. In particular, since the song list data is tabulated data including consideration data, the karaoke terminal 10
The side can know the total consideration before actually receiving the transmission. Further, since this tune list data is distributed only when the karaoke terminal 10 needs it, the karaoke terminal 10 can obtain the latest song list data when it is just needed.

Next, another embodiment in which the storage format of the consideration data is different will be described. The system configuration of this embodiment is
The hardware configuration is the same as that of the communication karaoke system shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. However, in the present embodiment, as will be described later, the information center 3 accepts a distribution request for a song from the karaoke terminal 10, and the billing center 1 executes only a billing-related process.

Further, in this embodiment, it is added to the entity information in the karaoke piece data as a part of the karaoke piece data distributed via the information communication network 7. More specifically, in this embodiment, one piece of karaoke piece data is
As illustrated in FIG. 6, it is composed of management information and entity information. As described above, the substantive information includes performance information of the MIDI standard, which is accompaniment music information, lyrics information, and background image information, and is data of indefinite length that varies in size depending on the music. On the other hand, the management information is fixed-length data at the beginning of the data, and in addition to the price data P indicating the price of the data, the song code N, which is identification information for identifying songs, has a specific format. It is recorded in. Therefore, for example, in order to obtain the management information, it suffices to mechanically read the first n1 bytes worth of data,
Further, for example, in order to obtain the consideration data P, it suffices to mechanically read the value recorded in the area from the n2th byte to the n3th byte in the management information according to a specific format. That is, as in the previous embodiment, each karaoke piece data is identified by the song number and the like, and even if the processing of referring to the table is not performed, the karaoke piece data is mechanically transmitted and received each time. By reading the value recorded in a specific area, the price of the karaoke piece data can be obtained.

In this embodiment, every time the karaoke terminal 10 receives the karaoke piece data, the central control unit 31 of the karaoke terminal 10 uses the value data P recorded at a specific position in the karaoke piece data as a machine. Read in and accumulate the values in order. Therefore, the central controller 3
In No. 1, when the reception of all the karaoke piece data is completed, the integration of the consideration of the received data is completed.

Next, the processing relating to the reception and billing of the karaoke piece data will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Although this flowchart is based on the operation of the karaoke terminal 10, the operations of the information center 3 and the billing center 1 will be described in parallel as needed. The points similar to those of the above-described embodiment will be briefly described.

This process is started by a predetermined operation on the karaoke terminal 10 side. First, the karaoke terminal 10 connects to the information center 3 through the information communication network 7 and displays its own terminal code CID and song list data. Data indicating the request is transmitted (S310). That is, in this embodiment, not the charging center 1 but the information center 3 receives the request from each karaoke terminal 10.

In response to this, the information center 3 identifies the karaoke terminal 10 by the received terminal code CID,
The song list data is created and transmitted to the karaoke terminal 10. Based on the transmitted song list data, the karaoke terminal 10 displays the titles of songs that can be distributed on the attached display (S320), and waits until the operator (terminal installer) selects a song number. (S330). When the desired song number is selected by the operator, in order to confirm whether to receive distribution,
It waits until the operator inputs an instruction of "transmission required" or "transmission not required" (S340). Here, if "transmission is not required" is instructed, it is confirmed whether or not the process is to be ended.
5: YES), and if not ended, the process returns to S330 again. On the other hand, if the "send required" is instructed, the selected song code N (this is included in the song list data as in the previous embodiment) is sent to the information center 3 as request information. (S350). In response to this request, the information center 3 delivers the karaoke piece data designated by the piece code N. This karaoke song data is
The format is management information + entity information as illustrated in FIG. However, the actual information portion of the karaoke piece data is scrambled and cannot be used as it is. This is to prohibit the use of the acquired data until a predetermined charging process is performed by the charging communication network 5 described later. Now, karaoke terminal 1
At 0, the karaoke piece data is received (S360), and the consideration data P in the management information recorded at the beginning of the karaoke piece data is mechanically read as described above and added to the total amount T1 (S370). The total amount T1 is zero-cleared before receiving the karaoke piece data. The distributed karaoke song data is stored in the hard disk 3
It records and saves in 3 (S380). This S360-S3
The processing of 80 is repeatedly executed for the number of pieces of requested karaoke piece data (S390: NO).

When the reception of the karaoke piece data is completed (S
390: YES), the connection with the information center 3 is cut off, then the charging center 1 is automatically connected to the charging center 1 via the charging communication network 5, and the total amount T1 is transmitted to the charging center 1 as a charging condition (S400). That is, in the present embodiment, unlike the previous embodiment, the charging center 1 is requested to execute charging after receiving the distribution of the karaoke piece data from the information center 3.

The billing center 1 receives the billing conditions,
Charging information corresponding to the amount of money to be charged is added to the data that serves as the decryption key that enables the karaoke piece data described above, and is transmitted to the karaoke terminal 10 via the charging communication network 5. As a result, the karaoke terminal 10 is charged.

Upon receiving the information from the billing center 1 (S410), the karaoke terminal 10 descrambles the karaoke piece data that was previously distributed and stored in the hard disk 33, and thereafter the normal karaoke performance is started. It is ready for use (S420).

As described above, even in the online karaoke system of the present embodiment, the burden on the data distributor of collecting the charges can be reduced, and furthermore, the charging can be executed by the price system in which different charges are set for each song. That is, the same effect as that of the previous embodiment is obtained. Further, in particular, in the present embodiment, the consideration data is stored in the information center 3 side in a state of being included in the karaoke piece data, and in the karaoke terminal 10 side,
Each time the distribution of karaoke song data is received, the price of the karaoke song data is added up, so there is no need for the troublesome process of identifying the individual data to be delivered and searching the table of consideration data. Becomes

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and various embodiments can be adopted without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the embodiment, the price is set individually for each song, but when delivering a plurality of specific songs without fail, the price is set with the specific plurality of songs as one unit. Good. More specifically, it is possible to set distribution units such as the latest 20 songs and enka 30 songs, and set an appropriate consideration individually for each distribution unit.

Further, in the embodiment, the example in which the present invention is applied to the communication type karaoke system is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any system that provides information for a fee can be applied to the present invention. For example, even when paying game software is distributed from the information center and applied to a communication game system or the like configured such that the terminal side can execute the game, the same effect as that of the embodiment can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication type karaoke system of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a karaoke terminal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing configurations of a billing center and an information center.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process relating to distribution and charging of karaoke piece data.

FIG. 5 is a communication sequence diagram among a karaoke terminal, a billing center, and an information center.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a data format of karaoke piece data of another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing relating to distribution and charging of karaoke piece data in another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Billing center, 3 ... Information center, 5 ... Billing communication network, 7 ... Information communication network, 10 ... Karaoke terminal, 26 ... Screen display control device, 27 ... 1st communication control device, 28 ... 2nd communication control device, 29 ... TV monitor, 31 ... Central control device, 33 ... Hard disk, 35 ... Audio reproduction circuit, 38 ... Mixer amplifier , 41 ... speaker, 43 ... microphone, 51, 71 ... host computer, 53, 7
3 ... storage device, 55, 75 ... input device, 57,
77 ... communication control device, 59, 79 ... printer,
61, 81 ... CRT.

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display location G10K 15/04 302 D H04M 11/08 H04N 7/16 C 7/173 // H04L 9/06 9/14

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information center storing information, and an information providing terminal adapted to execute an information providing service to a user based on information distributed from the information center via an information communication network. And a billing center that is connected to the information providing terminal via a billing communication network and executes billing for the terminal by transmitting information including billing information corresponding to the price of the information to the information providing terminal. An information fee charging system provided, wherein the information communication network is a communication network different from a charging communication network, and indicates the price of the information set for each piece of information distributed via the information communication network. An information fee section comprising: a consideration storage means for storing consideration data; and a consideration calculation means for calculating a consideration for all distributed information based on the consideration data stored in the consideration storage means. System. 2. The information fee charging system according to claim 1, wherein the consideration data is added to actual data in the information and is stored as a part of information distributed through the information communication network, The information fee charging system, wherein the consideration calculation means refers to the consideration data in the distributed information and accumulates the consideration. 3. The information fee charging system according to claim 1, wherein the consideration data is stored in a table in association with each piece of information, and the consideration calculation means refers to the consideration data in the table. , An information fee charging system characterized by accumulating consideration. 4. The information fee billing system according to claim 1, wherein the information center or billing center delivers a list of information that can be delivered to the information providing terminal to the information providing terminal. An information fee charging system comprising a list distribution means. 5. The information fee charging system according to claim 4, wherein the information providing terminal includes list requesting means for requesting the list delivering means to deliver the list. Billing system. 6. An information communication network connecting means for connecting to an information center via an information communication network, an information storing means for storing information distributed from the information center, and a charging center for charging via a charging communication network. An information providing terminal, comprising: a charging communication network connecting unit for connecting with the charging communication network, wherein the information communication network is a communication network different from the charging communication network, and is set for each piece of information distributed from the information center. An information providing terminal, comprising: a price calculating means for calculating the price of all distributed information based on the price data indicating the price of the information. 7. The information providing terminal according to claim 6, wherein the price calculation means adds the price data added to the actual data in the information as a part of the information distributed via the information communication network. An information providing terminal characterized in that it refers to and accumulates a consideration. 8. The information providing terminal according to claim 6, wherein the consideration calculation means refers to consideration data stored in a table in association with each piece of information, and accumulates the consideration. Information provision terminal. 9. The information providing terminal according to claim 6, further comprising list requesting means for requesting the information center or the billing center to distribute a list of information that can be distributed from the information center. An information providing terminal characterized by being provided.